Federal and state policy and legislative updates

NIRSA’s Government Affairs Committee stays up-to-date on the latest federal and state policy and legislative news through a variety of scanning tools. One particular resource they use is the bi-weekly Policy Pages provided by Active Policy Solutions. (For more on this partnership, along with other SAHEC associations, have with Active Policy Solutions, see below.)

The policy issues included in the Policy Pages document are highlights of a point in time. They are by no means exhaustive and change continually – so matters discussed in the last issue normally will not carry over to the next unless there is some updated action to be discussed.

The Committee encourages NIRSA members to keep themselves informed on federal and state policy issues affecting their work as professionals on campuses. These issues could be specific to higher education, physical activity, or NIRSA’s strategic value areas. If you have an issue that is of concern to your campus, reach out the Government Affairs Committee.

Policy Page documents will be stored, as a resource for NIRSA members, in the NIRSA Connect Community library. You can find them within the “Member Benefits” folder in a subfolder titled “Federal and State Policy Pages.”

Full SAHEC Policy Pages

In this issue:

Government Updates

Federal Stimulus/FY21 Funding

Senate Democrats approve budget resolution for COVID-19 relief

Federal Education

Biden Administration announces more appointments to the US Department of Education (DoE)
Louisiana State University being investigated by US Department of Education (DoE) over alleged mishandling of sexual assault cases
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses transgender athletes issue during confirmation hearing
Affirmative action suit against Yale is dropped
College affordability legislative priorities explored in article

Federal Legislation

Accommodations training/private courses of action ACCESS Act (HR 77) introduced
Child abuse reporting/notification federal grantee requiring bill (HR 608) introduced

Other Federal News

Minimum wage debate divides Democrats, article reports
Biden Administration to revive women’s issues task force
Minnesota youth sports COVID-19 reopening case to be heard by federal court

State and Local Government News

Thirty-one transgender/sex by birth sports participation bills filed in 20 states

Georgia

Georgia campus free speech zone prohibition bill introduced

Maryland

Maryland college athlete omnibus

Mississippi

Mississippi college athletic compensation bill passes committee

Montana

Montana gender by birth interscholastic athlete sports participation bill passes the state house and moves to state senate

Other News

College COVID-19 updates
Activities and other COVID-19 updates
College mask wearing habits explored by CDC
College students with intellectual disabilities program accreditation standards required by 2009 law to be introduced
Concussion guidelines recently enacted shorten duration of symptoms, study finds
Youth suicide risk may be identified by computerized screening, article reports
Suicides among adolescents aged 15-24 from 1999-2019 focus of CDC report
Transgender athletes sports policy and the NCAA outlined in editorial article
Transgender/sex by birth sports participation recommendations by ex-Olympians argued to be discriminatory by transgender advocates
College ordered to pay fine for study abroad rape of students

Full SAHEC Policy Pages

About NIRSA’s partnership with Active Policy Solutions

As an association, NIRSA strives to monitor and track policy and legislative issues with the potential to impact our members or the campus communities they serve. These issues are wide ranging and may pertain to higher education, employment law, physical fitness, or our strategic values areas.

NIRSA has joined with a subset of SAHEC members (ACUHO-I, ACPA, ASCA, NASPA, and NIRSA) in hiring Active Policy Solutions to assist with monitoring, tracking, analyzing, and determining appropriate action on issues relevant to our associations. Through our partnership with SAHEC, NIRSA continues to monitor policy, legislation, and advocacy work that affects both the higher education and physical activity space. Active Policy Solutions provides government relations and advocacy support to NIRSA and the Association’s SAHEC partners.